Leadership Essays
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Eric StumbergFounder/CEO, TengoInternet, Inc.Leadership Austin Affiliation: Graduate, Essential Class of 2007 Best Party Ever 2007 Sponsor Engage Speaker Series Participant |
"Chasing Miracles"
An unusual combination of President Carter’s visit to Austin and the movie “St. Ralph” found its way into my New Year’s reflections.
Inspired by the successful eradication of smallpox in 1977, the Carter Center’s Guinea Worm Eradication Program began its work in 1986 in Pakistan. Working with Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, UNICEF, the World Health Organization, national ministries of health, and many other partner organizations, the global campaign to eradicate Guinea worm disease has reduced the number of cases worldwide by more than 99.7 percent: from an estimated 3.5 million in 1986 to 10,674 reported in 2005. Even more amazing, the results were delivered without a drug or vaccine to prevent the disease.
St. Ralph is a wonderful movie about 14 year-old boy’s coming-of-age, and attempt to facilitate a miraculous recovery for his comatose mother. When Ralph asks Father Hibbert, his track coach, about his chance to win the upcoming Boston Marathon, he replies “it would be a miracle”. Taken as a sign, Ralph dedicates himself to winning, training though the ridicule of his friends, peers and community. Some weeks after running the marathon, Hibbert asks Ralph what he’ll do next, to which he responds, “the Olympics are next year”. Father Hibbert laughs and says “I guess if you’re not chasing miracles, what’s the point?”
What is my point? As citizens, community and state leaders embark on a new year, I ask that we chase miracles in setting the goals for our community and state. The Guinea worm case study demonstrates that a powerful vision coupled with resources and focused collaboration over time - 20 years in this case - can produce unprecedented behavioral changes and results. Whether addressing health, education, homeless, environmental stewardship, incarceration, jobs, poverty, racism or immigration to name a few, let’s set worthy goals that make us proud. Goals that use powerful words like “cure”, “eradicate” or audacious 100 percent success rates like. Let’s set goals which require us to reach high in order to unleash our talents and creativity.
Most of us want to be part of something bigger than ourselves. Most of us want our families, homes, communities, state, nation and world to have love, health, safety and prosperity. Here are a few headlines that would be “miracles” in our lifetime:
- “100% of eligible voters cast ballots”
- “100% of children graduate high school for second year in a row”
- “Health status of all Texans improves for 10th consecutive year due to education, access & delivery model changes”
- “Intervention, treatment and housing eliminate homelessness”
- “100% of ex-offenders do not return to prison”
- “100% of Texas rivers clean”
- “Texas prisons, death row converted to housing due to inmate shortage”
- “Poem from the Statue of Liberty’s plaque adopted as immigration policy”
- “Christians, Jews and Muslims pray, work together for world peace, social justice”
- “100% of pregnancies wanted”
- “School parking lots transformed to green space as teachers and children walk, ride and carpool to school”
- “Uganda leads world in recycling”
- “100% of population has broadband access”
I realize these headlines may seem implausible; they are certainly complex. They may be impossible in our lifetime; however, many thought walking on the moon, eradicating the Guinea worm, eradicating polio impossible. Leadership begins with setting the right goals, and if we’re not chasing miracles, what’s the point?